Editing Illuminated manuscript (section)

=== Engrossing: The process of illumination ===
[[Image:Illumination process.svg|thumb|A common process of manuscripts illumination from the creation of the quire to the binding]]
[[Image:Illumination_execution.gif|thumb|'''ENGROSSING'''<br />
'''I.''' Charcoal powder dots create the outline
'''II.''' Silverpoint drawing is sketched
'''III.''' Illustration is retraced with ink
'''IV.''' The surface is prepared for the application of gold leaf
'''V.''' Gold leaf is laid down
'''VI.''' Gold leaf is burnished to make it glossy and reflective
'''VII.''' Decorative impressions are made to adhere the leaf 
'''VIII.''' Base colors are applied
'''IX.''' Darker tones are used to give volume
'''X.''' Further details are drawn
'''XI.''' Lighter colors are used to add particulars
'''XII.''' Ink borders are traced to finalize the illumination]]
[[Image:Thomas Becket Murder.JPG|thumb|A 13th-century manuscript illumination, the earliest known depiction of Archbishop [[Thomas Becket]]'s assassination in [[Canterbury Cathedral]] in 1170. [[British Library]], London]]
The following steps outline the detailed labor involved to create the illuminations of one page of a manuscript:
# [[Silverpoint]] drawing of the design is executed
# Burnished gold dots are applied
# Application of modulating colors
# Continuation of previous three steps in addition to outlining marginal figures
# Penning of a rinceau appearing in the border of page
# Finally, marginal figures are painted<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Calkins |first=Robert G. |date=1978 |title=Stages of Execution: Procedures of Illumination as Revealed in an Unfinished Book of Hours |journal=Gesta |language=en |volume=17 |issue=1 |pages=61–70 |doi=10.2307/766713 |issn=0016-920X |jstor=766713|s2cid=190805404 }}</ref>

The illumination and decoration was normally planned at the inception of the work, and space reserved for it.<ref name=":5" /> However, the text was usually written before illumination began. In the early medieval period the text and illumination were often done by the same people, normally monks, but by the [[High Middle Ages]] the roles were typically separated, except for routine initials and flourishes, and by at least the 14th century there were secular workshops producing manuscripts, and by the beginning of the 15th century these were producing most of the best work, and were commissioned even by monasteries. When the text was complete, the illustrator set to work. Complex designs were planned out beforehand, probably on wax tablets, the sketch pad of the era. The design was then traced or drawn onto the vellum (possibly with the aid of pinpricks or other markings, as in the case of the [[Lindisfarne Gospels]]). Many incomplete manuscripts survive from most periods, giving us a good idea of working methods.

At all times, most manuscripts did not have images in them. In the early Middle Ages, manuscripts tend to either be display books with very full illumination, or manuscripts for study with at most a few decorated initials and flourishes. By the Romanesque period many more manuscripts had decorated or [[historiated initial]]s, and manuscripts essentially for study often contained some images, often not in color. This trend intensified in the Gothic period, when most manuscripts had at least decorative flourishes in places, and a much larger proportion had images of some sort. Display books of the Gothic period in particular had very elaborate decorated borders of foliate patterns, often with small [[drolleries]]. A Gothic page might contain several areas and types of decoration: a miniature in a frame, a historiated initial beginning a passage of text, and a border with drolleries. Often different artists worked on the different parts of the decoration.

Another feature of illuminating manuscripts of the Middle Ages was the use of [[Marginalia]]. These additions were typically found within and around decorative borders of the text. Marginalia found within medieval manuscripts were often unique special messages and details indicative of the precision and careful consideration involved in their production. Marginalia shaped the way the text was read and influenced the reader’s interaction with it. Placement of these decorations and messages prompted the reader to scrutinize beyond the physical book to interpret the text from multiple perspectives.<ref name=":0">{{Cite web |date=2020-12-15 |title=Hidden in Plain Sight: Secret Messages in Manuscript Marginalia – History of the Book |url=https://historyofthebook.mml.ox.ac.uk/2020/12/15/hidden-in-plain-sight-secret-messages-in-manuscript-marginalia/ |access-date=2025-02-23 |language=en-US}}</ref>

Marginalia ranged from intricate decorative illustrations to those considered extremely unusual. Some examples of marginalia found within medieval manuscripts included drawings of centaurs, snail and knight combat, warrior women, battles between cats and mice, parables from biblical texts, personified foxes, rabbits, and monkeys, and hidden words and messages buried within the border decorations.<ref name=":0" /><ref>{{Cite web |last=Burgess |first=Anika |date=2017-05-09 |title=The Strange and Grotesque Doodles in the Margins of Medieval Books |url=https://www.atlasobscura.com/articles/medieval-marginalia-books-doodles |access-date=2025-02-23 |website=Atlas Obscura |language=en}}</ref><ref name=":2">{{Cite web |title=Ludicrous figures in the margin |url=https://blogs.bl.uk/digitisedmanuscripts/2020/08/ludicrous-figures-in-the-margin.html |access-date=2025-02-23 |website=blogs.bl.uk |language=en}}</ref> The added drawings and messages of the 13th to 14th centuries were typically devoted to recurring themes and often patterned after other types of popular medieval art such as stained-glass windows, stone carvings, and wall paintings.<ref name=":2" />